Krypton Finds Its Brainiac in Blake Ritson

Slowly but surely, the cast of Syfy's Krypton is coming together, with two more cast members being added today. Blake Ritson has signed on to play the powerful villain Brainiac, with Paula Malcomson coming aboard to portray Charys. Blake Ritson has been confirmed to be a series regular on the show, while Paula Malcomson will have what is described as a "pivotal guest-starring role." Brainiac is an important DC Comics villain in the Superman comics, but this show will take place 200 years before Superman arrived on Earth.

Last October, the series cast newcomer Cameron Cuffe as the show's lead character Seg-El, Superman's grandfather, whose House of El was ostracized and shamed. The show follows Seg-El as he fights to redeem his family's honor and save his beloved world from chaos. Brainiac is one of Superman's oldest and most powerful adversaries, who is described in this series as being, "a parasitic, hyper-advanced alien android of immense intelligence." Paula Malcomson's Charys is Seg-El's mother, the matriarch of the House of El, who helps her son navigate through the dangerous landscape of Kandor City, their home city that has been besieged by "oppression and revolt." The role was recast after the pilot episode was produced, but it isn't known who originally played the character.

Blake Ritson and Paula Malcomson join a cast that also includes Georgina Campbell as Lyta Zod, who has a secret love affair with Seg-Egl, Ian McElhinney as Val-El Seg-El's grandfather, Elliot Cowan as Daron Vex, the Chief Magistrate of Kandor and Ann Ogbomo as Primus Alura Zod, Lyta Zod's mother and a leader of Krypton's military guild. The cast is rounded out by Rasmus Hardiker as the rankless Kem, Wallis Day as Nyssa Vex, a junior magistrate and the daughter of Daron Vex and Aaron Pierre as Dev-Em, a cadet under the command of Primus Alura Zod.

The most recent casting addition was Shaun Sipos as Adam Strange, who came aboard in mid-September. Adam Strange is described as a "world-weary human" who somehow becomes stranded on Krypton. He becomes the unlikely mentor to Seg-El, in a series regular role. It remains to be seen how many more characters will be brought on before the casting process is complete.

Syfy debuted a Krypton trailer during the network's San Diego Comic-Con panel back in July, although it remains to be seen when we might be able to expect the next wave of footage to debut. David S. Goyer and Damian Kindler wrote the pilot script, from a story by Ian Goldberg and Goyer, with Colm McCarthy serving as director and co-executive producer and Cameron Walsh serving as executive producer and showrunner. Deadline broke the casting news today, which comes not too long after Paula Malcomson closed out her five-season run as Abby on Showtime's Ray Donovan. She is also slated to star in the BBC miniseries Come Home with Christopher Eccleston. British actor Blake Ritson is perhaps best known for his role as Girolamo Riario on Starz's Da Vinci's Demons.